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James Forsyth rssJames_Forsyth

James Forsyth is Political Editor of the Spectator. He is also a columnist in the Mail on Sunday.

Picture: Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats, the natural party of government?

19 May 2013 13:54

If four years ago, a Liberal Democrat politician had attempted to portray the Lib Dems as the natural party of government we all would have laughed. But that is just… Continue reading

9 Comments
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Top Tory calls party activists ‘mad swivel-eyed loons’

18 May 2013 6:00

Insulting your own side is a dangerous thing to do in politics and in the current circumstances for any prominent Tory to do it is positively incendiary. But one ‘senior… Continue reading

87 Comments
David Cameron needs to work out what exactly it is that he wants from negotiations with EU leaders. Picture: Getty

What does Cameron actually want back from Brussels?

16 May 2013 17:21

If you ask what’s the problem with David Cameron’s European strategy, a cacophony of voices strike up. But it seems to me that most of their complaints are tactical when… Continue reading

37 Comments
Harriet Harman, Getty Images

Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman play a cautious game at PMQs

15 May 2013 13:24

There was a rare moment of unity between the Tory awkward squad and the Whips at PMQs today. The awkward squad relished brandishing copies of a Liberal Democrat leaflet promising… Continue reading

18 Comments
Bill

Will the draft EU referendum bill calm Tory tensions?

14 May 2013 20:18

The last few days have seen the Tory party losing its collective head. Number 10 hopes that the publication of a draft referendum bill will begin to restore order. If… Continue reading

45 Comments
Obama and Cameron in the Oval Office today. Picture: Getty

Barack Obama appears happy to help a leader in a spot of bother

13 May 2013 17:38

Barack Obama just threw a protective arm around David Cameron at their joint press conference, stressing that ‘you have to see if you can fix what’s broken in an important… Continue reading

50 Comments
British Education Secretary Michael Gove

Gove: I’d vote to leave the EU if referendum held today

12 May 2013 10:18

In a firecracker of an interview on the Andrew Marr Show, Michael Gove confirmed that if an EU referendum was held today he would vote out. But he followed this… Continue reading

112 Comments
boris

If Cameron is going to win in 2015, he is going to need a lot of help from Boris

9 May 2013 18:01

One consequence of the local elections is that no Tory now denies that they need to win over UKIP voters to win the next election. How to do that, though,… Continue reading

90 Comments
David Cameron and Ed Miliband chatting at the State Opening of Parliament today. Picture: Getty

MPs gear up for 2015 slugfest in Queen’s Speech debate

8 May 2013 16:43

The Queen’s Speech debate is always a mix of MPs patting each other on the back and political combat. This year, in a sign that the next election is looming… Continue reading

41 Comments
Nick Clegg speaking to the media after the 2010 general election. Picture: Getty

What was Clegg’s priority in the last few hours of the coalition talks? Stopping a European renegotiation

7 May 2013 18:19

The latest extracts of the Andrew Adonis’ book on the 2010 coalition negotiations couldn’t have been better designed to stir up Tory backbench bad feeling to Nick Clegg. Adonis claims that… Continue reading

60 Comments
Image: Getty

The Tory party holds its nerve – for now

5 May 2013 17:49

The dust is settling from the County Council elections and, crucially, the Tory party seems to have stayed steady. Yes, David Davis has had a pop at the number of… Continue reading

231 Comments
Picture: Getty Images

David Davis and the Tories’ class war

4 May 2013 13:41

To the relief of Conservative Campaign Headquarters, relatively few Tory MPs have taken the opportunity of the County Council election results to sound off. The most prominent exception to this… Continue reading

167 Comments
UKIP Leader Nigel Farage Campaigning In South Shields

Nigel Farage, the anti-politician

3 May 2013 8:53

Nigel Farage was in full anti-politics mode this morning on the Today programme. He railed against ‘three frontbenches that look and sound the same’ and ‘haven’t done a proper day’s… Continue reading

41 Comments
U.S. Citizens Head To The Polls To Vote In Presidential Election

Labour hold South Shields with Ukip 2nd and Lib Dems 7th

3 May 2013 0:06

The result is now in from South Shields. As expected, Labour have held the seat. Ukip have come second, with the Tories third and the Liberal Democrats a spectacularly bad… Continue reading

40 Comments
Nigel Farage campaigning earlier this week. Picture: Getty

Nigel Farage’s tax flip-flop shows us where he’s trying to take his party

2 May 2013 17:30

We might this week have seen some scrutiny of UKIP candidates, but so far we’ve seen little scrutiny of their policies. But the better the party does, the more policy… Continue reading

81 Comments
Chris Lockwood is set to join David Cameron's new policy unit (pictured). Photo: PA.

Chris Lockwood to join new Number 10 policy unit

29 April 2013 20:16

Downing Street has pulled off a coup with the recruitment of Chris Lockwood, the US editor of The Economist, to the new Downing Street policy unit. Lockwood is one of… Continue reading

35 Comments
election

Local elections: Tory leadership prepares MPs for the worst

29 April 2013 17:41

The Tory leadership is getting increasingly nervous that the party isn’t sufficiently braced for bad local election results this Thursday. They’re worried that too many MPs assume the party won’t… Continue reading

73 Comments
Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband stays in the rough with oddly charmless radio interview

29 April 2013 16:18

The problem with Ed Miliband’s World at One interview was that he addressed Martha Kearney as if she was a public meeting. Whenever she asked him a difficult question, he just… Continue reading

101 Comments
Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg Makes A Speech At The Party's Spring Conference On International Women's Day

Nick Clegg: No one has proposed to me that the UK should leave the European Court of Human Rights

28 April 2013 11:52

In a detailed interview on the Sunday Politics, Nick Clegg claimed that neither the Home Secretary nor Downing Street have ever proposed to him that Britain should temporarily leave the… Continue reading

49 Comments
David Cameron leaving the Leveson Inquiry after giving evidence in June. Today he pulled the plug on cross-party talks on the future of press regulation. Picture: Getty

David Cameron and the married couple’s tax allowance

27 April 2013 12:38

The married couple’s tax allowance is back on the agenda. After Conservative Home’s exclusive yesterday, David Cameron has confirmed that he will introduce one before the end of this parliament.… Continue reading

32 Comments